Game Over Bonus File: I Gotta Believe Too!
by supercomputer276
Summary: A mysterious fox approaches Joe Chin with an offer that could destroy Parappa's career. Chapter 5 added.
1. The Strange Teacher

**In case anyone decides to ask, yes, I own a PaRappa game (PaRappa the Rapper 2 to be exact) and yes, I have played it (and I have the save file on my friend's memory card to prove it).**

**CHAPTER 1: The Strange Teacher**

"Thanks brother, for lettin' me understand  
That a man must understand to keep his options open"

"You're welcome brother, for lettin' you understand  
That a man must understand to keep his options open"

Parappa and Coronel Noodle performed one last spin each as the music ended.

"That was really good, Parappa! You've really improved since last time."

"Thanks, Coronel Noodle! Same time next week?"

"Right you are! See ya around!"

"You too!" Parappa said as he pushed through the double doors of Beard Burger's kitchen. He saw Sunny, Katy, and PJ waiting at a table for him. He walked over and took a seat. PJ was asleep as usual, but the girls were awake.

"We heard your rapping from here, Parappa," Katy said. "You sounded great!"

"Thanks, Katy," Parappa replied. "I was pretty good, wasn't I?"

"Pretty good?" Sunny beamed. "You're one of the best rappers in Parappa Town!"

Parappa blushed at the comment. "Y-You really think so, Sunny?"

Sunny didn't get a chance to answer as at that moment, Coronel Noodle walked up to their table, holding a tray of eight fresh hamburgers.

"Hey, since Parappa did so well in his lesson today, I'm giving you all two of our traditional burgers apiece, on the house," he announced as he placed the tray on the table.

"All right!" Parappa cried happily as he took one of the top burgers on the pile and immediately started to nibble on it hungrily. "All that rapping built up my appetite."

"Oh Parappa," Sunny giggled, causing Parappa to blush again.

PJ had woken up so he could eat. The girls had started to eat their free burgers as well. Satisfied that his customers here were happy, Coronel Noodle headed back into the kitchen.

Through the front window, a large figure wearing a red and yellow sweater and black pants watched the four friends with anger in his eyes. Joe Chin still couldn't believe that Sunny had dumped him for that Parappa runt, even thought it was several months ago.

"I still don't get it," he said to himself. "What does that pipsqueak have that I don't? I'm taller. I'm richer. I'm more popular. I'm better looking. I got my face on almost every billboard in town! And yet she hangs around with _him_! I just don't get it!" With that, he stomped away.

Unbeknownst to anyone else, another figure, this one resembling a fox with pink fur just a little taller than Parappa, was on the rooftop of the building across the street from Beard Burgers. He watched intently as Joe stomped away from the feasting friends.

"H-heh heh heh… Joe Chin's hatred of Parappa is the key I need… the key to taking down that puppy once and for all…"

OoOoO

Joe walked across the front hall of his mansion on the outskirts of Parappa Town. A grandfather clock against one wall read 11:23. "Who's pounding on my door at this time of night?" he asked himself out loud, covering his mouth when he yawned.

He opened the door, and was taken by surprise at what he saw.

"Yo, puppy," the figure that looked like a pink fox greeted. Balanced on his snout in front of his emerald green eyes was a miniature pair of tinted glasses. His fur grew out and turned brown on top of his head as if it were human hair. He wore, along with a pair of white gloves with purple cuffs, a black fedora and matching coat with a tall collar like some sort of trench coat, beneath was a black shirt with a purple mushroom on the chest, long tan pants, and white sneakers. He was carrying a boom box in his right hand.

Before Joe could say or do anything, the fox had pushed past him and walked into the room, looking around, all the while not looking at Joe at all. "Nice digs," he said casually as if he weren't trespassing. "Living room could use a TV and sofa though. Bit too empty."

"This is the front hall, not the living room," Joe replied. "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?"

The fox turned to face him. "Who am I? I am known as SC. What am I doing in your house? To help you get even."

"Even?" Joe asked as he closed the door. "With who?"

SC held up a black and white photograph of Parappa. "Who else? You and I are the same in that regard. You hate him for taking your girl. He's in the way of my plans. We both need him to take a dive. " He crumpled the photo in his fist. "A huge dive."

Joe was definitely interested now. "A chance to get back at Parappa?" he paraphrased as he walked over to the fox. "Now you're talking my language. So how do we do it?"

"By beating him at his own game, that's how," SC replied, putting down the boom box.

"His own game? I'm not sure anyone around here owns a PlayStation…"

Quick as a wink, SC slapped Joe across the face. "Not that game, puppy. Do you know why this joint's called Parappa Town? Because Parappa is the biggest celebrity around. His rapping skills have left everyone in the dust, and it's time you came out of it."

"You mean… I'm gonna rap against him?! I don't know how to rap!"

"That's why I'm here." SC pressed the play button on the boom box and a simple drum beat began to come out of the speakers. "I'll be your teacher, and I'm gonna teach you rap. Once I'm through with you, you'll be rapping circles around that Parappa puppy. Girls will be hanging off you, including Sunny. Surely an offer you can't refuse…"

Joe grinned mischievously. "No I can't."


	2. Struggles of the Untalented

**CHAPTER 2: Struggles of the Untalented**

"Great day today, huh?" Parappa asked PJ as they walked down Parappa Town's main street the next morning.

"As good as any other day, I suppose," PJ replied. To be truthful, nothing much seemed out of the ordinary.

"Here we are," Parappa said as they reached the record store. They headed in and as would be expected headed right to the rap section.

"What are we doing here?" PJ asked. "Looking for your latest single?"

"Nah, just like looking at the newest members of the industry," he said as he pulled out to look at one of the records by one of the newest artists. "It's hard to believe that in today's day and age that new hits are still being released on records."

"Well it's hard to scratch a CD on a turntable," PJ comically noted.

Parappa chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose it is."

"Why do you keep looking at these new guys?" PJ asked as he pulled out a MC King Kong Mushi album to examine it. "Shouldn't you be more worried about who's above you?"

"I dunno," Parappa replied. "I suppose they remind me of me when I first started rapping. Everyone has the potential to become great at whatever they want to do, and I have the best hopes for these newcomers. If they make a living doing what they love and they believe in themselves, they're successful in my book."

Parappa ended up purchasing a few rap records while PJ bought some plain music for his DJ job.

"Say, we've usually seen Joe Chin out and about by now," PJ noted as they left the record shop.

"Hm… Yeah, you're right," Parappa agreed. "It's almost lunchtime and his limo is nowhere in sight. Perhaps he's staying at his house today."

"I wonder why?" PJ thought out loud.

OoOoO

SC slammed the play button on the boom box with his fist, stopping the music. "What was that?!" he demanded angrily.

"What was what?" Joe asked exasperated. He had been in his bedroom with SC all day. SC had found someplace in the house to rest for the night before waking up Joe bright and early the next morning (in the exact same outfit he arrived in) and they immediately started going through drills and practice. However, no matter how much Joe drilled and practiced, his rapping skill hadn't improved a bit.

"My instructions were to repeat the line, words and rhythm. The line was 'Hey c'mon, everybody get down,' and you said 'Hey everybody, Joe Chin is in the house.' Does that even sound _close_?"

"Well, a little…"

"It doesn't even rhyme, puppy!" SC said, louder than usual, as he slapped Joe across the face for the fifth time that evening. "Rap is poetry set to music. Prove yourself a poet!"

"I don't have to take this abuse from someone only a little more than half my size!" Joe snapped.

"Do you want Sunny or not?" SC stated more than asked.

Joe remained silent. One could almost hear the gears in his head cranking as they turned.

"I thought as much." SC rewound the tape. "If I have to go drill sergeant on you to make you into a master rapper, then sure as hell I will! From the top!" he said as he pressed the play button again and the music began.

"Welcome all, to my little house."

"Welcome all to my great big house!"

Slap. "Try again! Welcome all, to my little house."

"But I have a big house!"

"No freestyling yet!" Slap. "Try again!"

By the time it was Joe's bedtime, SC's hand was sore from all the slapping and Joe could barely carry a tune, just as before.

"You know what you are?" SC said to Joe. "You are what we in the teaching business call a difficult student!"

"How do you expect me to sing well if you keep slapping my mouth?!" Joe shouted.

"You said you didn't have to put up with my abuse," SC said as he picked up the boom box. "I don't have to put up with yours. Kiss your girlfriend goodbye, puppy, 'cause I quit!" He started to walk out and opened the door.

"W-Wait!" Joe called, causing SC to stop. "There has to be some way I can learn how to rap! We both need to get rid of Parappa!"

SC looked like he was still above to leave, but he didn't. He turned back around and extracted a music CD from the boom box. Joe didn't know what was on it since they were practicing to a cassette tape, but he knew once SC had passed it to him.

"Learn How to Rap Without Even Knowing It" the Sharpie on the label read.

"It's a self-hypnosis CD," SC explained. "Put it in a portable CD player or a stereo by your bed, put on some headphones, and play it in your sleep. Make sure you program the stereo to infinite loop. After a few nights with that going through your head, your rapping will have noticeably improved. We'll still do daily training, so don't think you're off the hook, puppy. I'll be in my room."

As SC left, Joe said one last thing. "How does that help? I don't know what room you're staying in! And I'm _not_ a puppy! I'm seventeen!" If he continued, SC didn't hear it after he shut the bedroom door on his way out.


	3. Exceptional Growth

A/N: Trust me, the reference in the first section is there for a reason.

**CHAPTER 3: Exceptional Growth**

That morning, Parappa was sitting on the couch in his house watching a TV show when PJ and Katy came in the front door.

"Hey, Parappa, wanna go grab a shake with us?" PJ asked.

"Sure," Parappa replied. "But can we wait until this show is done first? It's almost over."

PJ and Katy sat down as well. "What are you watching?" Katy asked.

"It's this show that's been around for a while. I only found it just now. It's about this guy and his friends who capture these weird-looking animals and use them to battle people with different animals."

"Whoa. Sounds exciting," Katy remarked.

"Oh I've seen it before," PJ commented, bored. "It just keeps getting worse with every season. The voice changes when some other company started voicing it were the worst, though."

"There's this really great part at the end though," Parappa continued. "Look, after the episode ends but before they play the credits, they sing this rap that has the names of all the different animals in the show. And let me tell you, there are some weird names. Like Kingler. What's a Kingler?"

Katy shrugged. "I dunno. I never heard it before."

PJ got up. "Well, I've lost interest. See you guys down at the ice cream shop." He then left.

"Wait up!" Katy called after him as she followed.

Parappa turned off the TV and followed as well. "Hey, don't leave me alone!"

OoOoO

"Welcome all, to my little house."

"Welcome all, to my little house."

"It hasn't a single rat or mouse."

"It hasn't a single rat or mouse."

SC stopped and rewound the tape. "Looks like that CD is starting to get us somewhere," he said. He didn't sound angry, but he didn't sound particularly pleased either.

"It is?" Joe asked.

"Most certainly. You actually managed to get the words down. Your rhythm's off, though. Sometimes you're too fast, sometimes you're too slow. Without rhythm, rap is nothing but badly-delivered poetry."

"Well, what do I do?"

"You need help keeping the beat." SC pulled a small triangular device from his jacket and set it on top of the boom box. "This is a metronome. It keeps a steady beat by swinging back and forth. Many music teachers use it." He flicked the little weight on a small rod on the metronome with his finger and it started to sway back and forth, releasing a click every time it hit the edge of its swing. "Now let's try again."

"Welcome all, to my little house." SC sung so that "welcome," "all," "little," and "house" corresponded to a click on the metronome.

"Welcome all, to my little house." Joe's attempt was too fast.

SC said to try again and repeated the line to the beat. This time, Joe sung too slowly.

SC was growing aggravated and said to try again and aim for the middle. Joe's attempt wasn't perfectly on rhythm, but it was much closer compared to the other two attempts.

"Better. Now let's try with music." SC started the tape and adjusted the metronome so that it clicked to the beat of the music. "Welcome all, to my little house."

"Welcome all, to my little house." Joe was just a little off.

"It hasn't a single rat or mouse."

"It hasn't a single rat or mouse."

SC stopped the tape again. "Good. Not bad. I think that'll be all for today." He placed the metronome on Joe's nightstand. "I'll leave this here so you can keep practicing your rhythm. You might also want to try tapping your foot as well if it'll help ya keep the beat. Listen to that CD again tonight. If we're lucky, lightning will strike twice."

Joe was about to ask what that meant exactly, but the next he knew, there was the sound of his bedroom door closing and SC was gone.

OoOoO

Parappa and his friends were getting more confused as the week wore on. Neither hide nor hair of Joe Chin had been seen since Parappa's last lesson with Coronel Noodle. Parappa didn't have a ton of time to concern himself with it since he had lessons with the other mentors in town, but Sunny sure noticed. One time she was at Beard Burgers with PJ and Katy while Parappa was at the Fruites Dojo training with Chop Chop Master Onion when those bullies tried to come up and take their food again. With neither Parappa nor Joe around, they succeeded, and would've taken Sunny as well had Katy not stood up to them and scared them off.

Joe was fairing much better. Every night he listened to the CD as he slept and as time passed, he got better and better at rapping. SC actually smiled one day when Joe first managed to nail a perfect line.

After Joe managed to nail SC's training rap, the fox started using raps by other masters around Parappa Town; Joe would never forget how his teacher had dressed up as the Hairdresser Octopus for "Hair Scare," especially the messed-up wig he was wearing. Joe managed to clean up those songs much more quickly than the starting rap, so SC decided to let Joe try some freestyling. That was a little rocky at first, but after another night of listening to the CD he did exceptional.

On the sixth day of training, SC decided to pass out the final test: have Joe write his own rap for his match against Parappa and then perform it for him.

"What should I rap about?" Joe asked.

"Doesn't matter," SC replied. "Just so long as you can sing it and little puppy Parappa can't. Feel your inner rhythm and the words will come to you in time. Your performance will be in two days. Bring your own music."

It took a long while for Joe to write his rap. He needed the full two days to complete the entire rap-writing process. First he headed into town for the first time in about a week to find some music he could use. SC suggested trying the new record store in town, Game Over Records. As it turned out, he worked there part time and Joe could get a discount, which was always music to the young dog's ears. Then back home, after listening to the music he had purchased, he tried to come up with lyrics to fit the beat. This proved difficult for him and he barely had a verse by evening. He decided to sleep on it, listening to the CD again of course, and in the morning he found the words coming to him.

At the end of the two days time, Joe sung the rap to SC with the fox filling in for Parappa. SC slipped up at least twice, but eventually managed to finish the song with a GOOD rating.

"Aw man," Joe whined. "I guess it wasn't enough for you to pass me…"

"Not enough? Pfft. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"Huh? I passed?"

"Of course! If I could teach you to rap, I'm obviously a few levels above that Parappa puppy. He'll trip up a lot more than I just did. And your lyrics were excellent and you were right on beat. Far as I'm concerned, you've graduated, Joe."

"Aw yeah!" Joe cried happily. "I'm the new, the new rap masta! Whatever Parappa can rap, I rap it fasta!"

"You're ready, Joe," SC said, a mischievous look in his eyes. "It's time to show that Parappa puppy what the new Joe Chin can do."


	4. Using Your Words to Solve Your Problems

**CHAPTER 4: Using Your Words to Solve Your Problems**

It was a fine sunny day. Parappa walked down Main Street, flanked by PJ and Sunny, with the members of MilkCan behind him. They were on the way down to the local recording studio.

"Gee Sunny, it sure was nice of you to offer to do backup for my latest song," Parappa said to the flower girl.

"It's no problem, Parappa," Sunny replied. "After doing that solo song a few months ago, I feel I'm ready for any singing job."

Everyone said hello to Parappa as they passed him on the street, and he responded in kind. It was one of the things that helped made him popular. He heard one teenage boy on the other side of the street say to this friend, "Man, look at that pimp!" followed by glancing at him. He rolled his eyes and shook his head like some mothers do. He had to admit, he had a lot of girls for friends. He wasn't sure how; it just turned out that way.

As they approached an intersection, they saw a strange sight. A large traffic jam was blocking the cars on the street; in a place like Parappa Town, that was fairly unusual. Parappa was wondering why they weren't moving until he saw those fence pieces used to block roads were covering the intersection from all sides.

"What are these barriers doing here?" PJ asked. "This is a busy intersection."

"There doesn't seem to be any construction work or anything," Katy noted.

The sidewalks weren't closed, so the group walked past the barriers and were surprised by the stranger sight. Someone had built a small stage right in the middle of the intersection. The stage's border seemed to have a theme of red and yellow. It was fully decked out with a stereo sound system with huge amplifiers and stage lights. Several people were crowded around the performance area, although they were quiet as if they were waiting for something.

Lammy walked up to some random young man in the back of the crowd. "Excuse me, but what's going on here?"

The young man turned around. "Word on the street is there's supposed to be a singing contest for the ages here." His gaze then managed to look past Lammy and see Parappa. Upon this, he quickly turned back to the crowd. "Hey everyone!" he shouted into the mass. "The champion is here!"

Everyone in the crowd turned to look at the young dog.

"…Why's everyone looking at me?" he finally asked.

Almost immediately after this, the crowd started to part, providing a clear line between Parappa and the stage, which had a staircase in front of it.

"A mysterious new artist is challenging your position as the best rapper in town," the young man that Lammy had talked to explained. "He's probably all talk, but your reputation is at stake."

"No problem," Parappa replied coolly. He quietly but bravely marched down the aisle, the others close behind them. The path began to close as they passed.

When he reached the end, the others stayed behind as Parappa marched up the stairs. After he reached the stage and took a few steps forward, the steps retracted into the stage, out of sight.

It was then that a bright spotlight shone down on Parappa's face, causing him to wince and cover his eyes.

"In this corner," a strange voice came in loudly over the speakers, "the defending champion, weighing in at something less than a hundred I'm sure, but more than makes up for his lack of muscles with his great rapping skill. Give it up for _Parappa the Rappaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah_!"

Halfway through this, Parappa's eyes had adjusted to the light and he turned around in time to greet the eager crowd. In the front, Katy was whistling, the other girls were cheering, and PJ was about to fall asleep again.

More lights came on, red green and blue, and they circled around to focus on the fold in the curtain, becoming a single white light. "And in the other corner, the challenger!" the voice continued as Parappa turned around again, a slightly worried look on his face. "Weighing more than his opponent to be sure, the richest dog in town and now latest rap sensation…" The curtains opened to reveal…

"JOE CHIN?!" the crowd exclaimed in great surprise.

The large figure that now stood in the second spotlight definitely looked like Joe, but he also looked drastically different. Although he still wore the red and yellow sweater, a slate coat with purple trim was on top of it. In his hand he held a wireless microphone. A large gold chain with a medallion emblazoned with the letters JC hung from around his neck. His pants had been replaced with white bellbottoms and his shoes were jet black with thick soles. Topping off the look was a pair of purple-lens green-rimmed glasses and a slick Elvis-like hairdo (only blonde).

"Hello, the Parappa soon be known as loser," Joe nastily greeted.

"Joe, what are you doing here?" Parappa asked, confused.

"Why else would I be here? I'm the one challenging you!"

"You? Challenge me? You don't know how to rap!"

"A week ago, you would've been right. But I've been training with the help of my new teacher. I've taken away the only thing that keeps you ahead of me, puppy, and now it's time I took back what was rightfully mine!"

"What was rightfully…?" Parappa was still confused until it hit him. "Sunny!"

"Exactly," the voice that was over the speakers spoke, only not over the speakers. Parappa looked to see an orange and yellow DJ booth stage left behind where the curtain was. Two figures stood near it. One of them was a strangely dressed pink fox you should know by now, and he was leaning against the booth. Behind the booth was an orange-furred female hedgehog half a head taller than the fox wearing a yellow headband and dress and white gloves, along with a pair of wireless headphones.

"If I may, Joe, I would like to introduce myself," the fox said as he stood up. Joe tossed the microphone to him. Upon receiving the device, he turned to the crowd and walked up to the edge.

"Yo y'all out there! The name's SC and I'm your MC for tonight. Or today. Whatever, mon, in the moon or in the sun, there's lots of fun that's gonna be won. And let me introduce you to my DJ. This is my DJ, y'all. DJ Tamany Hall, yo. Isn't she beautiful now? Lemme hear ya say hello to the DJ! Say hello DJ!" He held the microphone over the crowd as they chanted "Hello DJ!" "Yeah, the DJ Tamany's in the house, yo, and so is my student, the great Joe Chin mon. How you all feelin' out there, ya feelin' good now?"

"Yeah!!"

"I can't hear you! Louder now, ya feelin' good now?!"

"_YEAH!!_"

"Great to hear mon, in the moon or in the sun, there's lots of fun that's gonna be won now! Clash of the titans, the mortal verses the god! Which is which, that's for you to decide at the end when the winner is declared yo! But this ain't my concert mon, let's turn it back over to whose it is, the fabulous Joe Chin, now show me how ya feelin', let me hear you make some _noise_!"

As the crowd cheered, completely pumped, SC turned back to the rappers and tossed Joe the mic back, as well as another one to Parappa. The smaller dog almost didn't notice; he was impressed with the style and rhythm the fox had addressed the crowd with. It heavily reminded him of MC King Kong Mushi, only different. Did he say that _he_ was the one that trained Joe to rap? He was seriously rethinking how big a threat the larger dog would be if his coach was that good.

"Got 'em all warmed up for ya, man," SC said as he returned to his starting spot. "Now show him what we've been working on."

"You got it, teacher!" Joe replied. He turned back to his adversary. "Well, Parappa, whatcha gonna do now? I'm about to make a laughingstock out of you."

They both took a few large strides over to opposite sides of the stage, staring each other down. "We'll see, Joe, we'll see…"

"You can do it, Parappa!" the young dog heard Sunny's sweet voice among the crowd. "I believe in you!"

"Yeah! I know!" Parappa replied with his famous catchphrase. "_I gotta believe!_"


	5. Parappa vs Joe Chin: Rigged Rap Battle!

_Time for the rap! Singing parts are shown in script format as opposed to paragraph format like the rest of the story. I think most of the rest is self-explanatory._

_Sorry I hadn't updated this in so long. Most of everything after SC's sneaky move eluded me until inspiration struck (and kept me up until 2:30 in the morning last night)._

**CHAPTER 5: Parappa vs. Joe Chin: Rigged Rap Battle!**

(A semicircle gauge unfolds above the stage. The right side is red and has Joe's face on it. The left is yellow with Parappa's head. Each side has three lines on it before reaching the bottom. The needle is pointing straight up.)

(LESSON 1)

(The background music for "Say 'I Gotta Believe!' (Funkyboard Remix)" plays over the amplifiers.)

Joe: Lemme hear ya say alright!

Crowd: Alright!

Parappa: Lemme hear ya say oh yeah!

Crowd: Oh yeah!

Joe: Now lemme hear ya say whatcha gonna do?

Crowd: Whatcha gonna do?

Parappa: I need to hear ya say you gotta believe!

Crowd: I gotta believe!

(LESSON 2)

Joe: Alright, Parappa, Joe Chin is in the house  
I am a dog, not a penguin or a mouse  
I want Sunny for a loyal spouse  
And I'll get 'er even if I hafta be a louse

Parappa: Name's Parappa as you can plainly see  
My philosophy is I gotta believe  
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee  
I'm the best rapper in the whole city

Joe: I've climbed every mountain that's known to man  
I've swam every ocean as fast as I can  
I drive a Cadillac, not a crummy sedan  
My license plate's custom and it says I'm "THE MAN"

(The gauge's needle moves one line over towards Parappa's head because Joe's verse was fairly lame.)

Parappa: I never wear buttons, I got a cool hat  
My girlfriend is a flower; my good friend is a cat  
With all my buds, the times never fall flat  
Come on, Joe, let's see you top that!

(LESSON 3)

Joe: I don't need friends, I'm the biggest guy around  
Just my bragging makes opponents go down  
With the right bribe, my destiny is bound  
With effort, Parappa, I'll run you out of town

(The gauge moves one more line towards Parappa. It's now halfway in yellow.)

Parappa: I wrecked my dad's car, made Sunny a cake  
Sold stuff at a flea mart, took a potty break  
Cooked those burgers, learned how to skate  
Saved the world from noodles, I daresay that I'm great

(The needle moves one line towards Joe.)

Joe: My chains make chainsaws go faster than bulldozers  
My products made me millions and are makin' more, zers  
Don't do instruments, but I can still sing  
Pretty soon I'll force you outta the ring!

(The needle moves back towards Parappa.)

Parappa: I can understand you're jealous and angry at me  
I've had my bad moments, but know I am relieved  
I got through them all with a little hard work  
To be honest now, Joe, you're a bit of a jerk  
You try to buy your way out of a bad deal  
Just use elbow grease, don't reinvent the wheel  
Expand your scopes, do all that you can do  
Believe in yourself and you'll always come through!

(The needles moves toward Parappa again, and is now one notch from getting to the far left.)

While the crowd was cheering over Parappa's great line during the instrumental, SC was furious. "He's losing!" he breathed to himself. "One more bad line from Joe and the needle will hit the far left and he'll lose! I've invested too much in this scheme for it to fail me now!"

"I'm sorry, boss," Tamany breathed to SC as she continued to work the DJ mixer. "We'll just have to come up with a new plan."

"Not if I do this." After making sure the crowd was focused on the performers, SC moved behind the DJ booth and started pressing a few buttons.

"Sir, that's the trigger for the special mode that CD put in Joe," Tamany said.

"I know. I'm not proud to use it either, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and this is most definitely a desperate time." He looked at Parappa and took on an evil little smile as he finished keying in the code. "Let's see you rap past _this_, puppy…"

(LESSON 4)

A strange chime echoed from the speakers, barely hidden under the music. When Joe heard it, he took on a crazed expression. And when he resumed rapping, he was going a mile a minute.

Joe: What's this energy now lotsa power in me now  
Now don't go and have a cow my rappin' style makes you pow  
Now your seeds you have to sow we all live in the here and now  
Now prepare to take a bow before the great Joe Chin, yow!

Needless to say, the surprise in the sudden change of tempo threw Parappa off completely. He barely understood a word Joe had sung! And pretty soon he started to panic.

Parappa: Um, lala la. La la. Ah. Bla-lah. Rhino Feeder! AAAH!

As the needle moved to the right and Joe continued so fast he was barely understandable again, Sunny started to worry? "What happened?" she asked Katy over the crowd. "What happened to Parappa?"

"It's not Parappa, it's Joe!" Katy replied. "He started rapping so fast, Parappa can't keep up!"

"If this keeps up, I don't think Parappa's gonna make it," Lammy added. "He's really starting to sweat up there!"

Ma-san chattered something in her language while hopping and pointing at the stage.

"Huh? The MC?" Katy asked. She took a look. "Look at SC, Sunny. He's grinning like a Cheshire Cat."

"An evil Cheshire Cat," Sunny corrected upon noticing.

There was a large moan from the audience as the needle reached the midway point again.

"We don't have much time," Katy addressed the others. "I suspect foul play, and that MC has something to do with it. Sunny, Lammy, you two stay here and keep cheering Parappa on. Ma-san and I will sneak backstage and find out what's going on."

"All right," Sunny replied, "but be careful."

"We will!" Katy said as she and Ma-san headed around the stage and out of the crowd.

Making sure no one was watching, they headed to the side of the large stage. Strangely, there was no one blocking the side stairs leading behind the frame. The hallway between the frame around the stage was rather narrow, only about a yard wide. SC and Tamany were clearly visible, standing behind the DJ booth. Joe's large body blocked Parappa from view. Trying their best to remain quiet, Katy and Ma-san crept up the stairs and flattened themselves against the inside of the frame, slipping between it and the opened main curtain.

Footsteps were audible over the music and the singers. "Keep going, Joe," SC's voice sounded, growing ever closer to the hiding cat and mouse. He seemed to be talking to himself. "There's no way you'll lose now."

Katy decided to go forward and pulled the curtain away. SC was right in front of them. "And what makes you so sure of that?" she asked in an accusing tone.

"Whoa! Where'd you come from?!" SC said as he hopped back. "I don't recall ordering a cat and mouse act for the closing entertainment!"

"You know why we're here, MC SC," Katy continued. "You did something to Joe during this training so that he would win without a doubt. You _rigged_ the contest!"

"If I did, so what?" SC replied, arms crossed. "You can't prove I did anything."

"Oh yeah?" Katy countered. "I may not be an expert on rap, but I know no one could rap as fast as Joe is right now. Not without some artificial support."

"…Clever little cat aren't you?" SC said after a short pause, glaring at the blue feline. "Joe couldn't carry a melody in a bathtub, so I had him listen to a training self-hypnosis CD. And I _might_ have inserted a few suggestions of my own for a little all-in rage mode when he heard a certain chime play over the amps."

Katy was satisfied… until she realized it was all too easy. "Why did you tell me your plan just now?"

SC's upset grimace quickly shifted to an evil toothy grin. "Because it's not like you're going to be telling anybody else."

Katy's eyes widened a moment later once her brain realized what he meant. "MA-SAN, RUN!!"

The mouse chirped an affirmation as she ran for the stairs and back into the crowd. At the same time, SC dashed behind Katy faster than she could see and quickly had an arm around her torso, pinning her arms to the side, and his other hand covering her mouth. Katy tried to break loose, but he blocked her every attempt.

"I have experience with these kinds of situations, my little kitten," SC said, saying the last three words with a hint of adoration that Katy found frightenly creepy. "There's no use trying to escape. And even if you could, it's not like anyone could hear you over the amps. I've had my eye on you for a while I was spying on Parappa last week, and I have _special_ plans for you…"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the curtain, Parappa was plummeting fast. The tables had turned quickly and soon it was Joe that was one bad line from Parappa away from winning. Since Joe had gone wild, Parappa had trouble forming coherent sentences, and the score was beginning to show his trouble.

_What'll I do?_ he thought. _What CAN I do?_

"Go Parappa, you can do it! Turn it back around!" Sunny's cheer came from the crowd.

How that line had managed to separate itself from the crowd, he didn't know, but that sparked something in Parappa. This wasn't about his reputation, not anymore. If he failed, Joe Chin would take away Sunny.

And he couldn't let _that_ happen.

A verse he had heard before came into his mind at that point. It was fast enough to give fast-talkin' Joe some serious trouble. He really didn't want to use it given he had heard it on a kid's show, but at this point he needed to give it all.

After another of Joe's impossibly fast lines, it was Parappa's turn again. _Now or never! I gotta believe!_

Parappa: If you want a big hat, we got that!  
If you need a tube of glue, we got that too!  
A twenty-gallon wok, well they're in stock!  
And if you need refrigerators  
To keep extra mashed potatoes  
Or a giant air compressor  
To blow fruit flies off your dresser  
Or a dehydrated strudel  
Or a nose ring for your poodle…

The crowd had grown hushed as Parappa went at high speed sounding like a bad TV commercial. Even Joe was watching in some form of shock. Had they not been so mesmerized by the performance, they would've found the needle was actually moving _away_ from Joe's face.

Parappa: If you need a rubber hose, oh we got those!  
A rhododendron tree, well we got three!  
A wrap-around deck, that we gotta check!  
But if you need a window scraper  
And a gross of toilet paper  
Or a ratchet set and pliers  
And surround sound amplifiers  
And a solar turkey chopper  
Or a padded gopher bopper  
Flannel shirts for looking grungy  
And some rope for goin' bungee-

Suddenly, the music stopped and a fanfare played over the speakers. Parappa looked up and saw that his verse had carried the needle all the way back to the far left just before a spotlight shone down on his eyes and blinded him again. He shook his head to get his eyes back to normal and looked out at the crowd as they started cheering. "Parap-pa! Parap-pa! Parap-pa! Parap-pa!" they chanted.

Once his brain realized that he had won, he grinned and waved to the crowd. "You gotta do what?" he called into the microphone.

"I gotta believe!!" the crowd cheered in unison.

Sunny climbed up on the stage. "You won, Parappa! You won!" she cried happily as she threw herself into his arms, causing him to drop his mic on the stage.

"I did, didn't I?" he replied playfully as he hugged her.

Lammy and Ma-san quickly clambered onto the stage to join them. "Parappa! You gotta hear this!"

"What is it, Lammy?" the dog asked as he released Sunny from the hug.

"Katy and Ma-san snuck backstage during the song and only Ma-san came back!" Lammy quickly explained. "And she confirmed a hunch Katy had! That fox guy that talked before the song tried to use hypnosis or something to rig the concert so you would lose! That's why Joe was rapping so fast during the last bit!"

That reminded Parappa of something. "Joe!" He moved around his friends and looked at Joe, who was sitting on the stage rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"Ugh… what happened?" Parappa could faintly hear him say. "Last I remember I was rapping and losing and this chime played…"

"He doesn't remember anything about the last part of the concert," Parappa concluded.

"Joe was just one of that fox's pawns," Lammy supposed. "I think he might have been trying to ruin your reputation as a rapper, Parappa."

"Maybe," the dog replied. "But if that's the case, why does he want to ruin my career? And why did he take Katy? …And where'd the DJ go?"

Before anyone could look at the DJ booth to see that Tamany was indeed missing, it was forcibly ripped from the stage.

The crowd started to panic, scream, and scatter when what looked like an open-roofed pickup truck floating on a cushion of air emerged from the side of the stage. Attached to a hook behind it was a four-wheeled kart holding the DJ booth and part of the stage floor. In the pickup's seats were SC at the wheel and Tamany in the passenger seat. In the truck bed was Katy, tied up with sturdy rope and a length of sky-blue cloth for a gag around her mouth.

As for the stage, with a good chunk of the floor missing the structure started to collapse. It was when a particularly large spotlight fell not two feet from Parappa and Sunny before the heroes started to evacuate. Ma-san paused only long enough to throw Joe Chin off the stage, knocking the already dazed dog out, before hopping off herself and making some distance. The entire stage and backdrop collapsed into a large pile of scrap wood.

With the stage no longer a distraction, SC addressed the heroes (by now the crowd had pretty much disappeared). "Good job beating my unwitting lackey. Too bad you couldn't save everyone." With that, he revved up the motor and floored the acceleration pedal. "Later, puppy!" The truck shot off like a rocket, turning sharply around a corner before hitting a speed bump and flying over a car on one side of the blocked intersection before hitting road and dashing out of sight.

"Come back here with our singer!" Lammy cried as she ran after them for a few steps, shaking her fist. Ma-san did the same, albeit with a bit of cursing thrown in.

"We gotta save Katy!" Parappa declared.

"What about the destroyed stage?" Sunny pointed out.

"We don't have the time to worry about that right now!" the small dog replied. "That fox is too much of a trickster for anybody else to take down. There has to be a clue around here somewhere…"

A few sounds from Ma-san; she was carrying what looked like a record.

"She said this fell from the DJ booth when the truck made that turn," Lammy translated.

Parappa took the record and looked at the label. It was various shades of purple with a psychedelic 60's theme. The center was dominated by a mushroom with a skull emblem on its cap. Around the edge in large 60s-looking letters were the words…

"'Game Over Records?'" Parappa read with some confusion in his voice.

"Game Over Records?" Lammy asked Ma-san. "Isn't that that new record store that opened a few weeks ago?"

Ma-san nodded and chirped affirmatively.

"Wait, you know this place?" Sunny asked.

"Ma-san, Katy, and I saw it one time when we were taking the long way around to the studio," the lamb explained. "The strange thing is, from what I could tell, it wasn't built, like by a construction crew. It just appeared in an empty lot one day. No one could explain how it got there. …Hey, come to think of it, SC and Tamany left in the direction of that shop!"

"Sounds like a good place to start," Parappa decided. "All right, everyone, let's go rescue Katy!"

"YEAH!" the others shouted as they hurried out of the intersection and after the truck.

At that point, PJ woke up. "Huh? Is the concert over yet? I'm hungry."


End file.
